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Shelving Buffer
A shelving buffer is a technique used in computer processors to increase the efficiency of superscalar processors. It allows for multiple instructions to be dispatched at once regardless of the data dependencies between those instructions. This allows for out-of-order execution to occur which increases the throughput of the microprocessor. Background A superscalar processor allows the execution of a number of instructions simultaneously in the core of the processor itself, although this behavior is not to be confused with a multi-processor system. Most modern processors are superscalar. In a superscalar processor multiple instructions are dispatched from the same thread. Multi-core processors contain multiple processors all executing separate threads. Problems with data dependencies Executing instructions in parallel (i.e. simultaneously) raises problems with data dependencies, meaning that some instructions may be dependent on the results of others, and hence care must be taken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superscalar
A superscalar processor is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a superscalar processor can execute more than one instruction during a clock cycle by simultaneously dispatching multiple instructions to different execution units on the processor. It therefore allows more throughput (the number of instructions that can be executed in a unit of time) than would otherwise be possible at a given clock rate. Each execution unit is not a separate processor (or a core if the processor is a multi-core processor), but an execution resource within a single CPU such as an arithmetic logic unit. In Flynn's taxonomy, a single-core superscalar processor is classified as an SISD processor (single instruction stream, single data stream), though a single-core superscalar processor that supports short vector operations could ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Out-of-order Execution
In computer engineering, out-of-order execution (or more formally dynamic execution) is a paradigm used in most high-performance central processing units to make use of instruction cycles that would otherwise be wasted. In this paradigm, a processor executes instructions in an order governed by the availability of input data and execution units, rather than by their original order in a program. In doing so, the processor can avoid being idle while waiting for the preceding instruction to complete and can, in the meantime, process the next instructions that are able to run immediately and independently. History Out-of-order execution is a restricted form of data flow computation, which was a major research area in computer architecture in the 1970s and early 1980s. The first machine to use out-of-order execution was the CDC 6600 (1964), designed by James E. Thornton, which uses a scoreboard to avoid conflicts. It permits an instruction to execute if its source operand (read) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superscalar Processor
A superscalar processor is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a superscalar processor can execute more than one instruction during a clock cycle by simultaneously dispatching multiple instructions to different execution units on the processor. It therefore allows more throughput (the number of instructions that can be executed in a unit of time) than would otherwise be possible at a given clock rate. Each execution unit is not a separate processor (or a core if the processor is a multi-core processor), but an execution resource within a single CPU such as an arithmetic logic unit. In Flynn's taxonomy, a single-core superscalar processor is classified as an SISD processor (single instruction stream, single data stream), though a single-core superscalar processor that supports short vector operations could ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data Dependency
A data dependency in computer science is a situation in which a program statement (instruction) refers to the data of a preceding statement. In compiler theory, the technique used to discover data dependencies among statements (or instructions) is called dependence analysis. There are three types of dependencies: data, name, and control. Data dependencies Assuming statement S_1 and S_2, S_2 depends on S_1 if: :\left (S_1) \cap O(S_2)\right\cup \left (S_1) \cap I(S_2)\right\cup \left (S_1) \cap O(S_2)\right\neq \varnothing where: * I(S_i) is the set of memory locations read by * O(S_j) is the set of memory locations written by and * there is a feasible run-time execution path from S_1 to This Condition is called Bernstein Condition, named by A. J. Bernstein. Three cases exist: * Anti-dependence: I(S_1) \cap O(S_2) \neq \varnothing, S_1 \rightarrow S_2 and S_1 reads something before S_2 overwrites it * Flow (data) dependence: O(S_1) \cap I(S_2) \neq \varnothing, S_1 \right ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Instruction Window
An instruction window in computer architecture refers to the set of instructions which can execute out-of-order in a speculative processor. In particular, in a conventional design, the instruction window consists of all instructions which are in the re-order buffer (ROB). In such a processor, any instruction within the instruction window can be executed when its operands are ready. Out-of-order processors derive their name because this may occur out-of-order (if operands to a younger instruction are ready before those of an older instruction). The instruction window has a finite size, and new instructions can enter the window (usually called ''dispatch'' or ''allocate'') only when other instructions leave the window (usually called ''retire'' or ''commit''). Instructions enter and leave the instruction window in program order, and an instruction can only leave the window when it is the oldest instruction in the window and it has been completed. Hence, the instruction window can be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
